Americans get a bigger flavour of Britain with soup deal

New Covent Garden has changed ownership four times since 1987Getty Images

It is named after a place in the heart of London and is heading to America: New Covent Garden Soup has been sold for $230 million to the company behind Linda McCartney ready meals.

The American group Hain Celestial hopes that its purchase of Daniels Group, which also owns the Johnsons Juice and Farmhouse Fare brands, will give it a platform to expand in the UK as well as giving the British brands a new market across the Atlantic. It fought off tough competition to buy the business, until now owned by the Singaporean caterer SATS, with four private equity groups also interested.

New Covent Garden has changed ownership four times since it was set up by Andrew Palmer in 1987, creating the fresh soups…